Heroes of the Emerald Shards
The Heroes of the Emerald Shards is a name referring to the party of adventurers who stopped the Abyssal Crisis. It includes the three who actually closed the gate and fought off the avatar of Asmodeus, and also the other members of their party who went to get aid from Mithril Hall, though frequently all but the three who closed the gate are forgotten by the commoners. The List of Names Abrieviated History (For the complete history of the Heros of the Emerald Shards please see the page detailing the Abyssal Crisis.) The Heros of the Emerald Shards were a band of adventurers formed by happenstance when the Ve'veri'kasari Assasain Dannbludd unofficialy recruited them as part of his plan to free his sister Hickory and take his revenge upon the Underdark. The orginal members excluding the evil mastermind Dannbludd were Salem and Duskfang. After unknowingly transporting a hellgate into Buladr's Gate and fleeing to Candlekeep, which the three saved at the cost of Dannbludd's life the party was joined by the Duneswift military officers Commander Meep and Lieutenant Aaz who had been signaled by Dann's death and were assigned to deal with the problem the Ve'veri'kasari had created. From there the party delved into the Underdark, following the plan laid out for them to stop the demonic invasion. Since said plan involved collapsing the Underdark which would destroy the surface world as well a good deal of time was spent trying to come up with an alternative method but to no avail. The party made it to the Drow city of Los'morinth where they freed the enslaved Ginger to help find Dann's sister Hickory. Breaking into the cities Matron's fortified palace Salem and Dusk found Hickory in a basement vault where she worked as a weapons and armor producer for the city. Liberating her along with a kindly Drow cook and maid Hickory had fallen for the party teleported to the surface, returning to Candlekeep. Deciding they could not collapse the underdark Salem suggested finding a person who could tell them how to close the gates without collapsing the Underdark. As a result the party found themselves consulting Elminster, who informed them of a way to safely shutdown the gates. Since all nine gates had to be destroyed for the Underdark to collapse shutting one would be enough to save Faerûn. The closest of these portals lay in the Underdark underneath the High Forrest in Menzoberranzan, so the party travled to it wanting to stop the deamons from harming anyone else as soon as possible. Enroute to the Underdark entrance the party was ambuished by a wizard in the service of Bane who enlisted the help of the ghost Meeril to slay the party. Meeril however was defeated and offered her services to the party instead, joining whole heartedly after learning of the daemons. Realizing that they were not too far from Mithril Hall the party split, Salem, Dusk, and Meeril heading down to close the gate and the rest taking the knowledge of how to close the gates, their locations, and a request for aid to Mithril Hall incase the three failed. The three found the portal, and engaged in battle with not one but two of Asmodeus's avatars one after the other while attempting to destroy three emeralds which fueled the gate. They succeeded but were wounded badly by the battle, nearly dying. Meeril used her ghostly abilities to stabilize the party, and within a few days were found by a war party of Dwarves from Mithril Hall who helped them return to the surface. As a reward for their bravery the Heroes of the Emerald Shards were knighted by King Bruenor Battlehammer and charged with protecting the lands from further attack by outsiders such as Daemons. To accomplish this the Heroes formed the Order of the Emerald Shards, which stands to this day as a group of legendary protectors of all mortals.